


The Chain...

by Nina



Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-19
Updated: 2012-09-19
Packaged: 2017-11-14 14:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nina/pseuds/Nina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hercules remembers...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chain #1

"Papa, Papa… Look what I made!" Ilea came running through the tall grasses. A crown of braided, wild flowers adorning her loose, blonde hair.

Hercules scooped his daughter up into his arms. "You're a little princess." The child laughed, reaching up to touch the green and yellow chain.

"Ilea!" Deineira called from the house.

 


	2. Chain #2

`Hercules,' a voice echoed in his mind. `It is time to go.'

But Deineira was walking toward him now, like a vision. Her skirts billowing in the summer wind, auburn curls haloed in the light of an eternal sun. And then she was there, lifting Ilea from him.

`Your choice is made,' the voice insisted darkly.

"Go now," his wife whispered. "It's not as if you won't come back."

But Ilea twisted in her grasp, removed the chain of flowers from her head. "For you, papa." She held it out, even as they both began to fade.

 


	3. Chain #3

"You're back!" Iolaus whooped with delight. He came running toward a somewhat dazed Hercules, who had appeared suddenly on the hill-slope. "Good to see you buddy!" Iolaus thumped his partner exuberantly on the back. "Wasn't sure you wouldn't stay."

"Iolaus," Hercules placed a calm hand on his friend's shoulder. He grinned down into bright, blue eyes. "Back to back. No place I'd rather be."

Iolaus looked down, sniffed, wiped his eyes. "Yeah, just… thanks for choosing me."

"Anytime, friend." The two companions ambled down the hill.

"Say what's that?" `

"This?" Hercules held up the small, flowered chain. "An echo."

 


	4. Chain #4

Years passed…

Hercules placed Iolaus' sword and scabbard on the wooden table... brushed the dust from its hilt. Weary, he sank into a chair. How long had it been? He ran an unsteady hand through tangled, gray hair. He missed his friend.

He looked outside, saw the shadows of clouds and the shifting sun. Laughter drifted in on the breeze. A child's voice… "Papa…"

Blinking, he shook his head to clear it. Something caught his eye. Reaching over, he lifted the small, wooden box from a shelf. Echoes overlapped as he opened it.

Inside lay a chain of flowers, fresh and undying. The flowers of Elysium.

 


	5. Chain #5

"Good to see you back buddy."

Hercules turned in surprise. "Iolaus?"

"You remembered my sword!" Young and handsome as in his prime, Iolaus stood but a few feet away. He seemed drenched in sunlight, though the cabin was dark.

"Iolaus…" Hercules stood. He reached for the sword, but grasped, instead, another item.

Gripping his chair incredulously, Hercules started toward his friend…. And found himself walking, not across wood floors, but through tall grasses. Iolaus laughed.

"Papa… papa!"

"Ilea?" Hercules knelt and the child threw herself into his arms.

"Papa, you're home to stay?"

"Yes," He placed the chain of blossoms on her head. A lost strength suffused his limbs; he stood, swinging his daughter up into his arms.

"Don't wait," Iolaus quipped, "Deineira's made dinner!" Whistling off-key, he shouldered his sword, waved for his friend to follow, and headed over the hill.


End file.
